Marketplace Morning Report for Wednesday, March 12, 2014

The Urban Institute releases a study for the Justice Department on the monetary size of the underground commercial sex, drug, and weapons economies in U.S. cities. The recruitment and business tactics of pimps and traffickers include traveling in circuits to increase profits and evade law enforcement detection. Plus, indications of a developing El Nino have now come from not just the U.S., but also Japan and Australia. The warnings are being taken seriously by farmers and by investors; the last big El Nino caused a lot of crop damage, and agricultural markets are already tight. And at the SXSW conference, wearable technology is getting a lot of buzz.